Global Expansion Planned for London Casino Operator

 
The move is a strategic one, designed to clear up any "conflicts" there might be as his media and gaming group looks to expand throughout Europe.
 
With casinos in London's West End, Newcastle and Swansea, Aspinall's is also the developer of a $500 million casino in Cardiff, Wales. The business is a joint venture Packer and Damian Aspinall. Their respective fathers - the late Kerry Packer and London casino boss John Aspinall - were friends and business associates as well.
 
Aspinall's will be "a platform for our expansion into the growing UK market gaming market," said John Alexander, the chief executive officer of PBL.  "It is a long established business with a strongly recognized brand."

Rapid Deregulation

 The British government is rapidly deregulating its gambling industry and, as a result, attracting the interest of big international players. Recently, U.S.-based gaming group Harrah's Entertainment has made a nearly $600 million bid for London Clubs International. Meanwhile, Malaysia's Genting said it was purchasing Stanley Leisure, owner of nearly 50 casinos across the country.
 
Packer's 46 per cent stake in Aspinall's is being transferred to a company called Ancarac, and, if approved by shareholders, PBL will buy the stake with 5.4 million of its shares. At the time of the talks, the shares were trading at about $17. Packer currently owns 258 million shares in PBL, equal to 38 per cent of the total public float.
 
But, analysts told Onlinecasinocrawler.com, if shareholders don't green light the deal, the company will pay for the stake with cash, a much more expensive proposition.  PBL has also entered into an agreement with another firm to buy an addition four per cent in Aspinall's, raising its overall stake in the casino venture to 50 per cent.
 
Packer's private investment company has, meanwhile, been in talks with another casino operator in Moscow, and analysts anticipate that any deal resulting from those negotiations will be taken over by PBL. Some board members, however, are nervous about moving into the Russian gambling industry.

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